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José M. Sánchez-Verdú (*1968) ARGO

Dramma in musica 2017/18 Duration: 75' Text: Gerhard Falkner

solos: B-BarCounter-TBarB(Bar)S – men choir: 12–14T/B – fem choir: 3S4A – orch: 2(2picc).2(cor angl).2(B-clar.db-clar).2(dble bsn). – 2.2.2.db-tuba – timp.perc(2) – org – str: 6.4.4.3.2. – live-electronic

hire material | on request

Characters:
BUTES (Bass-Bariton) – ORPHEUS (Countert-Tenor) – ODYSSEUS (Bariton) – JASON (Bass[bariton]) – APHRODITE/MEDEA (Soprano) – ARGONAUTEN (male choir: 12–14T/B) – SIRENEN (female choir: 4S3Mez/A)

Content:

  • Introduktion
  • Die Argo
  • Thalatta
  • Gesang der Sirenen
  • Interludium
  • Die Lyra des Orpheus
  • Die Insel der Sirenen
  • Der Sprung von Butes


The book “Butès” by Pascal Quignard inspired me to a renewed examination of this topic. Butes’ encounter with the sirens is a picture of the search for the unknown; Butes’ leap into the water is considered a symbolic and poetic gesture opening up to various interpretations. This leap in search of the sirens’ monstrous Ur-sound is a symbol of an inner decision, an adventure in the direction of the new (comparable to the creative process in art). This is the theme of ARGO in all its symbolic and iconographic dimensions.  

(José M. Sánchez-Verdú, 2017)


Bibliography:

Der Komponist José María Sánchez-Verdú im Gespräch [mit Ina Karr], in: Programmbuch der Uraufführung, Schwetzinger Festspiele, 27. April 2018, pp. 15-20.